Wells Fargo donated $50,000 today to a Jersey City group that seeks to make the troubled Greenville section eligible for state grants to help boost public safety, revitalize blighted properties and set the community on a new path.

Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corporation is in the midst of drafting a community plan that will be created after a year of soliciting comments from Greenville residents on how they want their neighborhood transformed.

“You don’t know what it means for a bank in Jersey City to actually give back,” Cunningham said.

Wells Fargo presented the check today during a day-long barbecue at Christ the King church on Ocean Avenue.

Community activists helping to draft the plan say residents’ top priority is public safety, followed by concern about the proliferation of abandoned and vacant properties that blight Greenville.

Once the plan is finished, it will be sent to the state and could make Greenville eligible for up to $1 million in tax credits aimed at helping revitalize distressed neighborhoods.

The Greenville section, located on the city’s southernmost end, suffers from high crime and unemployment. Longtime resident Sheila Mack, 51, of Oak Street, said today the area “could be better.”

“It’s a little rough right now,” Mack said. “A lot of our kids are lost out here, and it’s sad.”

Kim Lawrence, 49, of Virginia Avenue, said the city diverts too many resources to other sections, especially Downtown. Lawyrence, holding her infant granddaughter in her lap, said she hopes Garden State Episcopal’s efforts will help give the area a boost.